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Advance for Managers of Respiratory Care welcomes you to Respiratory Quotient, part of our Healthcare POV blog and forum community from ADVANCE. Our online community offers interactive blogs written by respiratory care practitioners and our editorial staff. The blogs will discuss issues related to the field, breaking news, and candid observations. Voice your opinions and submit feedback to the authors through the comment section. To suggest a blog topic, email lmeade@merion.com.
LATEST POSTS FROM EACH BLOG
May 5, 2008 9:18 AM by Douglas Laher of Monday Morning Manager

Three weeks ago, my brother-in-law asked me if I'd like to join him at a Cleveland Cavaliers basketball game. 

"I've got an extra ticket and thought you might like to go" he said. 

When he offered me the ticket, I almost jumped out of my skin. These weren't ordinary tickets you see... these were floor tickets.  As I stuffed my face with overpriced popcorn, $5.00 hotdogs and a $7.00 beer, ...


 
April 29, 2008 9:25 AM by Douglas Laher of Monday Morning Manager

I often times find that life mimics science.  Just as gas follows the path of least resistance during mechanical ventilation, so too do managers when making decisions that impact their department.  Whether their decisions are made with selfish intent, or purely without realization, managers will quite often avoid "the path less traveled" for the comfort and reassurance of what comes easiest.

We've ...


 

It seemed as if the switch from CFC inhalers to HFA inhalers would go off without a hitch.

Manufacturers increased production to prevent shortages, and the American Lung Association even produced a


 
April 24, 2008 12:21 PM by Douglas Laher of Monday Morning Manager

As I look back on my career, I shutter to think what could have been.  I graduated from the Respiratory Therapy program at The Ohio State University in 1993.  I was never much of the academic type and was anxious get on with graduation.  I chose the Cleveland Clinic as my employer of choice primarily because it was located less than an hour away from where I grew up.  It was my thought that the Cleveland ...

 
April 22, 2008 10:22 AM by Douglas Laher of Monday Morning Manager

In a recent posting titled "Kids Say the Darndest Things," I described the relationship I have with my son.  We're very close, and I spend as much time as I can with him.  I coach his baseball team, and whenever we get a chance, we'll play catch in the front yard or shoot some hoops in the ...

 
April 21, 2008 10:05 AM by Douglas Laher of Monday Morning Manager

One thing my MBA education taught me regarding the success and failure of an organization was the importance of a thorough S.W.O.T. analysis.  In simple terms, a S.W.O.T. analysis is nothing more than a 360° evaluation of an organization that scrutinizes an organization's strengths (S), weaknesses (W), opportunities (O), and threats (T).  Performed collaboratively with individuals that encompass a wide range ...


 

Combating an industry that has spent decades building an image that smoking is cool, New York City is airing gruesome images of suffering and disfigurement on television and in subways and taxis.

New York City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has launched a series of commercials profiling a Bronx woman - Marie - ...


 
April 16, 2008 9:36 AM by Douglas Laher of Monday Morning Manager

"You can make some of the people happy some of the time, but you can't make all of the people happy all of the time". 

As the old adage goes, the larger the group or population you're serving, the more difficult it becomes to make decisions that are embraced by all those involved and who are impacted by those decisions that you make.  This example is no more exemplified than in recently proposed ...


 
April 14, 2008 9:43 AM by Douglas Laher of Monday Morning Manager

I've always been a big fan of magic.  The imagination and intrigue is for great entertainment.  For the true professionals like Harry Houdini, David Copperfield, or Chris Angel, their performances stimulate(d) the imagination of their audience.  Some of my most memorable recollections were in which the magician appeared to teleport himself from one location to another in the blink of an eye.  This ...


7 comments  
April 7, 2008 10:36 AM by Douglas Laher of Monday Morning Manager

Everyone loves weekends.  For many, it's their time to kick back, throw their feet up and take a few moments for themselves.  Whether it's just an opportunity to enjoy a hot cup of java in the morning while reading the newspaper (I personally enjoy doing Sudoku puzzles) or to simply stay in their PJs all day, weekends are a time for rejuvenation, and relaxation.

As such, Fridays are not far behind ...


 

Education level affects smokers' responses to TV ads that promote smoking cessation, according to a new study from the University of Wisconsin. Researchers surveyed 452 adult smokers of different socioeconomic and educational levels and found better-educated smokers are more likely to respond to TV ads that encourage them to quit. However, they found the effect of messages about secondhand smoke is the same across educational ...

 
April 1, 2008 2:57 PM by Douglas Laher of Monday Morning Manager

To call in sick, or not to call in sick... that is the question.  Inevitably, this is the dilemma that thousands of respiratory therapists across the country confront themselves with every day at this time of year.  Just as hospitals everywhere fill with sick patients, the communities at large are not the only ones feeling the wrath of bronchitis, pneumonia, or influenza.  At risk by no fault of their ...


 
March 28, 2008 3:26 PM by Douglas Laher of Monday Morning Manager

I'm very close with my 10-year-old son Trevor.  We share much in common. We love sports, enjoy playing video games together, and like to sit on the couch to watch a good comedy or action movie (hot buttered popcorn... light on the salt).  As you can imagine, it gives me great pride that my son has shown an interest in what I do for a living.  He often asks lots of questions about my job, and has even hinted ...

1 comments  
March 25, 2008 9:12 AM by Douglas Laher of Monday Morning Manager

The Kalahari Desert in Africa is one of the hottest places on earth. The conditions are so unbearable, only the fittest can survive. Without water, dehydration takes place within hours... not days. Poisonous scorpions and rattlesnakes lie in wait... their venom enough not to just kill one man, but ten. Only those with years of training and expertise can survive for prolonged periods of time before they succumb to ...


 

Minnesota just became the third state nationwide to consider a campaign for scent-free schools. Rep. Karen Clark proposed educating students about how their Burberry, Marc Jacobs and Axe contribute ...

 

Rhythmic jazz music and the sweet scent of flowers filled the Philadelphia Convention center during my last visit for the Philadelphia Flower Show. This time, the sniffling was the same-blame it on Philadelphia's late winter weather-but  the topic, pediatric asthma, generated more serious dialogue.

Health care professionals gathered in the ballroom ...


 
March 20, 2008 10:03 AM by Douglas Laher of Monday Morning Manager

It's that time of year again at our hospital. Performance appraisals are due. For some, it's looked at as an opportunity for constructive feedback that will allow them to improve their performance. For others, it's merely a right of passage in order to maintain employment.

It's never been difficult for me to evaluate the performance of the front-line staff. There are really only two parameters ...


 

Kirk Walters
Kirk Walters of The Toledo Blade
Technology in the 21st ...


 
March 17, 2008 11:53 AM by Douglas Laher of Monday Morning Manager

I'm not the perfect manager.  There... I've said it.  While there will most certainly be a collective celebration in agreement with this statement from some of my staff, the reality is that it's true.  I don't claim to be perfect, nor do I ever expect to be.  While I do work hard everyday to hone my skills as a manager and leader, the truth is it takes years of practice and dedication to your trade ...

1 comments  

When Jennifer Moyer Darr, LCSW, a social worker with the National Jewish Medical and Research Center, Denver, Colo., asked one of her young clients suffering asthma to draw her illness, Darr was puzzled by the crayon markings on the page.

A clown named Azma filled half the page, flashing his fangs and wearing a pink flower in his fedora hat. The girl drew herself less than half the size of Azma, standing in ...


 

Roughly 7,000 physicians and health care practitioners are gathering in Philadelphia for the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology annual conference (March 14 to 18). ADVANCE staffers will share highlights throughout the four-day convention in the interactive Respiratory Quotient blog community. Join us for discussions about lectures, keynote speakers, poster sessions, ...


 
March 14, 2008 2:28 PM by Douglas Laher of Monday Morning Manager

Standing shoulder to shoulder we stood at attention being careful not to move a muscle.  There we stood; shoulders back, chest out, chin up and staring straight ahead.  After all, what are you supposed to do when a former presidential hopeful steps onto the elevator with you?

A member of the Ohio contingent representing the AARC's Policital Action Contact Team (PACT), I was on my way with fellow Ohioans ...


 
March 10, 2008 2:53 PM by Douglas Laher of Monday Morning Manager

It was roughly one year ago this week that I was surrounded with some of the hardest working, most passionate, and dedicated respiratory therapists this country has to offer.  Unified by the common goal of advocating for the profession and the millions of patients around the country who suffer from pulmonary disease, 115 respiratory therapists from 48 different states and all different walks of life swarmed on ...


 
March 6, 2008 11:54 AM by Douglas Laher of Monday Morning Manager

I'm not sure that I understand, nor do I know why the NBRC recently granted a one year amnesty period for certified respiratory therapists who graduated prior to 2005 to sit for the RRT exam.  While extending this period allows the NBRC to "help us meet our responsibility to certificants, their colleagues, and, ultimately, their patients", I don't know that it really does.

They then contradict themselves ...


8 comments  
February 29, 2008 1:59 PM by Douglas Laher of Monday Morning Manager

I don't know that I ever bought into the notion that respiratory therapy (or anything else for that matter) was like riding a bike.

"Once you learn how, you'll never forget" my dad used to say. 

Hence was the reason I was so apprehensive this week when I was in attendance at a pharmacology lecture I set up for our staff on hemodynamic drugs.  After all, it's been about 6 years now since ...


 

ABOUT OUR BLOGS

On Monday mornings across the country, football fans revel or pull their hair out during play-by-play analyses of the Sunday game. Like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, managers of respiratory care departments face similar scrutiny by their staffs for each decision made - usually after the outcome already is known. Blogger Doug Laher, RRT, MBA, gives us tips for making Monday mornings a little easier.

The ADVANCE for Managers of Respiratory Care staff follows the top stories impacting upper-level decision-makers in respiratory care.